Behind the Mask
by Lancetheflamesniper
Summary: A character study of The Host King himself.


I do not own the Characters of Ouran High School Host Club. I am merely borrowing them to tell a story.

Behind the Mask

By

Lance the Flamesniper

Here I sit, Tamaki Suoh, King of the Host Club, for what that's worth. I can't remember if it was Kyoya or I that came up with the types that make up the Host Club, but I was deemed to be the prince type. I didn't argue and the others didn't dispute it. The only thing I truly credit to myself is our mission: The complete happiness of every girl who comes to the Host Club.

I know how I seem to others. I know that most of the women who come to me see me as a bauble, a pretty thing with pretty words whose presence makes them feel good and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy their attention, but I'll get back to that in a moment. The other members of the Host Club see me as a buffoon, a clueless, impulsive idiot. I used to think their opinions of me didn't matter. Or at least that's the impression I gave. Deep down it hurts me more than I'll ever tell them.

Part of the reason I won't tell people about this, are the twins. Kaoru and Hikaru delight oh-so-much in their "fun". It seems to please them even more if their "fun" comes at my expense. Things especially got worse for me when Haruhi joined our group. As if I cannot tell that those two like her as much as I do. Making me look bad had been their private game with me before. Her presence made it less of private thing as making me look bad, painting me as a pervert served to help them look good. Despite that, I don't hold it against them. As strange as it sounds I still see them as my friends, distant as they tend to be, mostly because on some level they are like me.

I also cannot confide in Kyoya about this. He's been my friend for years, but he is far too manipulative for me to trust him with this information. He is too quick to use any information he gets a hold of to turn a profit "for the club". I suspect that he is using the club as a way to practice for when he starts his own company. Not that he doesn't have his own issues, he just doesn't see the need to externalize.

I said earlier that I would be lying if I said I don't enjoy female attention and it's true. Being only half Japanese is a lonely thing. Being only half Japanese and somewhat wealthy makes things worse. When you are an ai no ko and rich you can never tell when other wealthy people are being honest with their words or just being condescending on levels you can't really grasp. On top of that I am an only child, when I entered middle school, I my only friend was Kyoya and as I pointed out earlier I couldn't exactly confide in him.

It wasn't until our erstwhile "manager" Renge showed up that I got a chance to lift my mask a little. "The lonely prince" Tamaki Suoh: a man who is an idol yet internally lonely. She thought it just a role. The others commented on my ability to act the part so well and the "guests" of the club loved the scene. They didn't understand, and still don't I suppose. You see, it wasn't an act.

The girls at the club don't see the real me, they see the prince, but not the princely-ness. They see the mask. They don't see me. Worse still I doubt any of them, those girls or my fellow hosts, would bother to look. They wouldn't understand the me that I am currently, leaning on the large window ledge in my room, shirt open, staring reflectively at the light as it plays on the opposite wall. Well maybe there is _one_ who might understand. But _she _is a special case.

Even if I didn't know that she was girl right away I knew, Haruhi Fujioka was special. She really is the only person I can think of who could have wrought the changes I've seen in the twins as well as the others. Despite my attempts to keep my care for her platonic I can admit at least to myself that I love that dear girl.

Alas I don't think she sees me. She merely sees the pretty boy with the personality of a fool. My attempts to show her otherwise always fall short, sometimes by my own mistakes and sometimes due to my friends' sabotaging of my attempts.

So here I sit, Tamaki Suoh: King of the Host Club, the lonely prince that no one knows. My throne is lonely, my crown heavy. And the one woman who could possibly share my life with me sees me as an obnoxious fool with no sense of reality… It is a sad story, the life I live. But I keep going thanks to the hope that one day, Haruhi will see the real me.


End file.
